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Focus was the name of the mid-point Game 5 in their 10-game match on May 25 but the intense altitude at the jubango venue in Sangri-La added an extra obstacle for Gu Li 9P and Lee Sedol 9P. Held at 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above sea level, both players took breaks but Lee battled through what Go Game Guru’s An Younggil 8P called “the most spectacular game of the match so far.” Just when everyone thought Gu would take the game, Lee dusted himself off and landed several critical blows against Gu in the final complicated fights. With questionable moves beginning at 140, Gu eventually resigned after Lee’s move at 223. Lee will be able to bask in his 3-2 lead for the next two months as the players take leave until Game 6 on July 27. For more information, including photos (check out the one of Lee using an oxygen mask and Joanne Missingham and her sister modeling local costumes) and preliminary analysis from Younggil, visit Go Game Guru.—Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru; photo and game record courtesy of Go Game Guru

Gu Li 9P won game 4 of the MLily Gu vs Lee Jubango on April 27, drawing even with Lee Sedol 9P at two all for the match so far. Game 4 was held on Jeungdo (Jeung Island) in Shinan County, near Lee Sedol’s hometown, and was the first and only game scheduled in Korea. Before the game, the players paid their respects to the hundreds who died when a ferry tragically capsized on April 16. The ferry incident occurred near the venue for this match. Go fans who like to follow the Lee Sedol – Gu Li rivalry will already know that this is Gu’s fourth consecutive victory against Lee in the last two months. Game 5 will be held in Yunnan Province, China, and is shaping up to be a crucial turning point in the match. Click here to download the game record or click on the link below to see An Younggil 8P’s preliminary comments on the game.- David Ormerod, Go Game Guru

“This third game will be very important for Gu Li,” Kim tells the E-Journal. “If he loses it will be very difficult for him to catch up. “With Lee leading 2-0, Gu should have a lot pressure on this game and needs to overcome it. I hope Gu Li can win and make the series more exciting.” Kim notes that the two are playing a game at Chunlan Cup on Friday, March 28, which may affect the jubango game.

Gu Li will be looking to begin erasing his 2-game deficit Game 3 of the Lee Sedol – Gu Li Jubango this weekend. Gu beat Lee in Round 2 of the just-concluded Zhaoshang Cup on March 21 (Korea wins 4th Zhaoshang Cup by a whisker GGG 3/24/2014), and is playing him again in Round 2 of the Chunlan Cup but Lee leads 2-0 in the jubango. Live coverage with commentary of the match will start on Baduk TV three hours after the first move is played. The commentators will replay and analyze the game from the beginning and Go Game Guru’s An Younggil 8p will translate and discuss the game in English with Baduk TV Live viewers. The coverage starts at 1:00 pm Korea time on Sunday, March 30 (Midnight Sunday morning EST). You can watch the game on Baduk TV for as little as $2.70 with a Baduk TV Day Pass.- Go Game Guru; photo: Gu draws Lee in the Chunlan Cup

In what can only be described as a very disappointing game for Gu Li 9P, Lee Sedol 9P (left) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the late endgame to win the second game of the MLily Gu vs Lee Jubango by 1.5 points. Lee now has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-10 series, increasing the pressure on Gu in Game 3, which will be played in Chengdu on March 30. Game 2 was played on the outskirts of Shanghai on February 23.

Gu Li, playing black, started the game with nice opening and he took the lead up to black 45, but Lee reversed the game up to 78. The lead exchanged hands several times in the middle game but Gu regained the lead in the endgame and was still leading up to 189. Several subsequent mistakes by Gu, however, enabled Lee to turn a probable half-point loss into a 1.5 point win.- based on the report by David Ormerod and An Younggil 8P on GoGameGuru. Check their Lee Sedol – Gu Li jubango page for more news and commentary.

The second game in the historic Lee Sedol-Gu Li jubango will be broadcast live on GoPanda2 on February 23, starting at 9AM local time in Shanghai (2/22 5p PST, 8p EST). Myungwan Kim 9P will provide live commentary (written, not audio) beginning two hours later (2/22 7p PST, 10p EST). “I hope Gu Li can show a good fighting spirit and even up the match,” Kim says. Click here to download the latest version of GoPanda2 to watch the live commentary.Correction: the US date for the commentary on GoPanda2 is Saturday, February 22, not 2/24; the time remain the same.

Kuksu Games Available: The game records from the recent Kuksu Cup are now available; four uncommented sgf files have been added to our January 16 report (Cho Hanseung Wins 3rd Consecutive Kuksu 1/16 EJ).
- Ben Gale, Korean Correspondent for the E-Journal

The first game in the upcoming jubango between Lee Sedol 9P and Gu Li 9p will be broadcast live on KGS with live game commentary by Myungwan Kim 9P. The first game in the series (Big Jubango Between Lee Sedol & Gu Li Set To Start In January 11/29/2013 EJ) is scheduled for January 26 (1/25 in the US) and the 10-game match will run monthly throughout 2014. Whoever wins six games wins the match. “We’re very excited to bring this series to the global go community,” said Kim. “This is really great for western go fans,” agreed American Go Association president Andy Okun. The KGS broadcast commentary will begin at 4p EST on January 25 and Kim will be joined by James Kim 1D, along with Matthew Burrall 7d and Andrew Lu 7d. The team intends to broadcast and comment on the entire game, which could run over 8 hours. “We may need to take some breaks from time to time,” says Myungwan Kim. “But basically we’ll stay up until the game finishes giving our best explanations and entertainment.”

The dates for the much-anticipated match between Lee Sedol 9p (top left) and Gu Li 9p (bottom left) have finally been announced. The jubango, or ten-game match, will begin on January 26, 2014 in Beijing. Sponsor MLily will award the first player to win six games with 5 million RMB (approximately 820,000 USD). The other player will receive a consolation prize of 200,000 RMB (approximately 33,000 USD). If the score is tied 5-5, the prize will be split without a tie-breaker.

“I think these two players are the best choice for a jubango, and the games will be very exciting,” said Liu Siming, president of the Chinese Weiqi Association. “There hasn’t been a jubango like this in the last 70 years, but we’ve pushed ahead to make this one happen.” With twenty-one international titles between the two of them, Liu considers Lee and Gu “still the best” among today’s top players. Liu also delivered the exciting news that each of the ten games will be played in a different city.

Gu and Lee themselves, though, are trying to stay humble. When asked how he will prepare for the jubango, Gu said, “This match will be a very important part of my career and life.” He has already logged many hours studying to prepare. As for Lee, he does not believe that being the top ranked Korean player has anything to do with how the jubango will unfold. “There were many lightning games in the first half of 2013, and I lost many of them,” Lee said. “However there have been more games with longer time limits in the second half of the year, and I’ve been able to achieve better results in those games. That’s all there is to it.”

For more information about the 2014 MLily Gu vs Lee jubango, please visit Go Game Guru. For the full jubango schedule, please visit Go Game Guru’s Pro Go Calendar.–- Annalia Linnan, based on a longer article by Go Game Guru, photo courtesy of Go Game Guru

The last year has been a very successful one for the International Go Federation, its leaders reported Saturday at the annual IGF General Meeting, held the day prior to the launch of the World Amateur Go Championship, this year in Sendai, Japan.

In addition to successful editions of the WAGC, World Student Oza, World Mind Sports Games, International Pair Go Championship and SportAccord Mind Sports Games, the IGF for the first time directly funded two new projects. The Central and South American Go Propagation Project resulted in 140 go workshops in Venezuela and the 1st International Go Symposium at the 2012 U.S. Go Congress generated tremendous participation from contributors around the world. IGF VP Thomas Hsiang called both efforts “A very good start.”

The IGF also enjoyed financial success in 2012-2013, thanks largely to major financial support from the China Ki-In for the 2012 WAGC and SAWMSG, reported Secretary-General Yuki Shigeno. Another exciting new event, the first Mlily Cup, came together quickly with support from a new sponsor, and although the late start precluded participation by western players this year, the IGF expressed hope that in the next edition there will be slots for players from both the U.S. and Europe.

The 24th annual International Pair Go Championships are coming up in November in Tokyo, and the 3rd edition of the SportAccord Mind Games will be December 12-18 in Beijing (and will be covered again this year by Ranka and the E-Journal). New countries participating in the 2013 WAGC are Brunei and Kazakhstan, and those players received warm welcomes from the IGF leadership and the assembled players.

The final bit of news is that the 2014 and 2015 editions of the WAGC have been confirmed for Korea, the 2014 location definitely in Seoul, with details to be announced at a later date.- report by Chris Garlock; photos by John Pinkerton